This invention relates to a form liner system that allows for multiple form liners to be utilized while creating a product, such as a concrete wall, that appears to have been created using a single, continuous form liner.
In the last several decades, the concrete industry has been advantaged by using form liners as a method of imprinting textures into concrete walls. Concrete walls created using such form liners can include three-dimensional texturing and decorative patterns. Some concrete walls are able to simulate the look of a traditional masonry structure, such as brick and mortar, rock and mortar, etc.
To create a continuous wall that is larger than a given form liner, multiple form liner sheets are laid into a casting bed adjacent one another. In some instances, portions of the adjacent liners may overlap. Desirably, the individual liners are shaped and positioned such that any pattern formed in the liners will appear to be continuous across the multiple liners. Cementous material is then poured onto the liners. After the cement has cured, the form liners are removed, thereby exposing the texture in the concrete.
A problem that occurs in walls formed using multiple form liners is evidence of the discontinuous, multiple form liners. For example, adjacent form liners may not adequately seal against one another, allowing concrete slurry to migrate between, and even behind, the form liners. This results in an uneven wall, ridges in the wall, breaks in any patterns formed in the wall, etc. Unfortunately, these imperfections are created in the face of the resulting wall and are highly visible. Contractors often spend time performing cosmetic work to the resulting, cured wall to remedy such imperfections, such as grinding, patching and coloring.
Some contractors will apply caulk to joint areas between adjacent and/or overlapping form liners in an attempt to prevent a visible seam. Such caulking is somewhat labor intensive and can produce intermittent results.
Another problem with prior art form liner systems stems from warping, buckling and/or bulging of the form liners. Any such shape change can create imperfections in the resulting wall. To combat such problems, contractors often secure the form liners to the casting bed, for example by screwing through the face of the form liner. Although such fasteners will hold the form liners in place, the fasteners themselves can distort the face of the resulting wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,963,499 teaches form liners that include raised sections that allow for interconnection of adjacent liners in a nested manner. Although the nested liners provide a benefit over non-nested liners, the nested liners can still allow a visible (e.g. raised) seam on the face of a wall at locations where the wall would desirably be flush and continuous.
There remains a need for a formliner system capable of using multiple form liners to create a wall that appears to have been made from a single, continuous form liner.
There remains a need for a formliner system capable of being secured using fasteners, wherein the resulting wall does not exhibit evidence of such fasteners.
All US patents and applications and all other published documents mentioned anywhere in this application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Without limiting the scope of the invention a brief summary of some of the claimed embodiments of the invention is set forth below. Additional details of the summarized embodiments of the invention and/or additional embodiments of the invention may be found in the Detailed Description of the Invention below.
A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification is provided as well only for the purposes of complying with 37 C.F.R. 1.72. The abstract is not intended to be used for interpreting the scope of the claims.